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The Art & Science of the Advertising Slogan
by Timothy R V Foster (© 2001)
ADSlogans Unlimited is a service of Timothy R. V. Foster
E-Mail: info@adslogans.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0)208 763 2225
Fax: +44 (0)208 763 2011
www.adslogans.co.uk
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
1
Introduction
In his book, Creative Advertising, Charles L Whittier says a slogan
“… should be a statement of such merit about a product or service
that it is worthy of continuous repetition in advertising, is
worthwhile for the public to remember, and is phrased in such a
way that the public is likely to remember it.”
To which we add: The purpose of the strapline (slogan, claim,
endline, signature, etc.*) is to leave the key brand message in the
mind of the target. It is the sign-off that accompanies the logo. It
says "If you get nothing else from this ad, get this..!"
*Slogan Nomenclature. What’s What, Where?
In the UK, they are...
end lines, endlines or straplines.
In the USA, they are... tags, tag lines, taglines or theme lines.
In Germany, they are... claims.
In Belgium, they are...
baselines.
In France, they are...
signatures.
In the Netherlands
and Italy, they are...
pay-offs or payoffs.
To the unimaginative,
they are...
rip-offs or ripoffs. The bland leading the bland.
Generically, they are... slogans.
At ADSlogans Unlimited,
we call 'em...
slogos (the slogan by the logo).
They are often...
™ Trade marks (UK)
™ Trademarks (USA)
SM
Service Marks (USA)
® Registered Trade Marks (UK)
® Registered Trademarks (USA)
And the same sort of thing in the rest of the world.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
2
Slogan Characteristics
A perfectly formed tagline should have as many of these characteristics as possible:
1. It should be memorable
2. It should recall the brand name
3. It should include a key benefit
4. It should differentiate the brand
5. It should impart positive feelings for the brand.
6. It should reflect the brand's personality
7. It should be strategic
8. It should be campaignable
9. It should be competitive
10. It should be original
11. It should be simple
12. It should be neat
13. It should be believable
14. It should help in ordering the brand
15. It should not be in current use by others
16. It should not be bland, generic or hackneyed
17. It should not prompt a sarcastic or negative response
18. It should not be pretentious
19. It should not be negative
20. It should not be corporate waffle
21. It should not make you say “so what?” or "ho hum".
22. It should not make you say "oh yeah??"
23. It should not be meaningless
24. It should not be complicated or clumsy
25. You should like it
26. Trends in slogans
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
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1. A slogan should be memorable
Memorability has to do with the ability the line has to be recalled
unaided. A lot of this is based on the brand heritage and how
much the line has been used over the years. But if it is a new
line, what makes it memorable? I suggest it is the story told in
the advertisement - the big idea.
The more the line resonates with the big idea, the more
memorable it will be. 'My goodness, my Guinness!', as well as
being a slick line, was made memorable by the illustrations of
the Guinness drinker seeing his pint under some sort of threat
(perched on the nose of a performing seal, for example). It
invoked a wry smile and a tinge of sympathy on the part of the
audience at the potential loss if the Guinness was dropped.
If it is successful, ideally the line should pass readily into
common parlance as would a catchphrase, such as 'Beanz
meanz Heinz' or ''Where's the beef?'
In addition to a provocative and relevant illustration or story,
alliteration, coined words, puns and rhymes are good ways of
making a line memorable, as is a jingle.
Let's look at some examples of these:
• Alliteration
• Coined words
• Puns
We'll look at rhymes in the next section.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
4
1. A slogan should be memorable…continued
Alliteration
This technique is a familiar aide-memoire:
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Allied Irish Bank:
Doral:
Jaguar:
Girl Guides:
Fila:
• Hire Knowledge:
Britain's best business bank.
Discover the Doral difference.
Don't dream it. Drive it.
Dream. Dare. Do.
Functional... Fashionable... Formidable...
Specialized staffing solution.
Coined words
Using made-up words can also help:
• Amoy:
Chineasy.
• Louis Vuitton:
Epileather.
• Burton Menswear:
Everywear.
• Ski Fruit:
Fruitius. Yogurtus. Delicia.
• Guinness:
Guinnless isn't good for you.
• Gordon's & Tonic:
Innervigoration.
• Neff:
Nefficiency.
• KP Peanuts:
Pure snacking. Pure snacktivity.
• Smarties:
WotalotIgot.
Puns in the line, no branding
A really good pun can work miracles. However note the lack of
brand identity in these otherwise excellent examples. Almost
any competing brand could use these lines.:
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Moss Security:
Wyborowa Vodka:
Pioneer:
The Economist:
Range Rover:
Alarmed? You should be.
Enjoyed for centuries straight.
Everything you hear is true.
For top laps.
It's how the smooth take the rough.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
5
1. A slogan should be memorable…continued
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Holiday Inn:
Casio:
Weight Watchers
Frozen Meals:
Northern Telecom:
Zanussi:
Lea & Perrins:
Bendix Appliances:
Pleasing people the world over.
Precisely what you're looking for.
Taste. Not waist.
Technology the world calls on.
The appliance of science.
The Worcester Saucerer.
We'll do the homework.
Puns in the line, with brand name
In these lines, the brand name appears, but as the solution or
promise rather than part of the pun:
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Flowers Fine Ales:
Barbados:
Finish Detergent:
British Steel:
First National
Bank of Chicago:
Kenco Really
Rich Coffee:
St. Ivel Shape Yogurt
Kodak Gold
Asda
HMV
Ritz Crackers
John Deere Tractors
Mumm's Champagne
Money Magazine
Red Star
Tetley Tea
Tic Tac Candy
Impulse Deodorant
Always pick Flowers.
Barbados. Goodness. Gracious.
Brilliant cleaning starts with Finish.
British Steel: British mettle.
First relationships last.
Get Rich quick.
Get your family into Shape, without them even noticing.
Is your film as good as Gold?
It 'asda be Asda.
No HMV, no video.
Nothing fitz like a Ritz.
Nothing runs like a Deere.
One word captures the moment. Mumm's the word.
Reap the rewards of Money.
Send your parcels Red Star and pull out all the stops.
Tetley make teabags make tea.
Tic Tac. Surely the best tactic.
You just can't help acting on Impulse.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
6
1. A slogan should be memorable…continued
Puns in the line, with brand name at work
Here the brand goes to work, inextricably part of the pun:
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Absolut Vodka
Citibank
Frosted Chex
Quavers Snacks
Thomas Cook
Nytol Sleeping Pills
IBM
Abbey National
Cutty Sark Whisky
Comet Electrical
Stores
Arthur's Cat Food
Skoda Favorit
Farley's Baby Food
Thomas Cook Travel
Immac Depilatory
Visa Delta
Debit Card
Cadbury's Wispa
Candy
Campari Aperitif
Wike Farms Cheese
Absolut magic.
Because the Citi never sleeps.
Chexellent, or what?
Do me a Quaver.
Don't just book it, Thomas Cook it.
Good mornings follow a good Nytol.
I think, therefore IBM.
Investments with Abbey endings.
Live a Cutty above.
Lowering prices forever, that's Comet sense.
Nothing else is Arthur's good.
Put your money on the Favorit.
So Farley's, so good.
Take a Thomas Cook at our prices!
The look is Immac-ulate.
Visa's Delta blow to cheques.
You can't keep quiet about a Wispa.
You'll find there is no Camparison.
You'll Wike it too.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
7
2. A slogan should recall the brand name
Ideally the brand name should be included in the line. 'My goodness, my Guinness!' thus
works, as does 'Aah, Bisto!'. On the other hand, 'Once driven, forever smitten' does not
easily invoke the word Vauxhall, nor does 'All it leaves behind is other non-bios' scream out
Fairy Ultra. This, by the way, is possibly the worst endline in the history of advertising! It
certainly gets my vote. It's a brand manager at P&G speaking to a brand manager at the
competition and it means it doesn't leave a nasty residue in the wash -- the laundry
equivalent of 'no bathtub ring'. No 'housewife' could possibly understand it.
What's the point of running an advertisement in which the brand name is not clear? Yet
millions of pounds are wasted in this way. If the brand name isn't in the strapline, it had
better be firmly suggested. Nike dares to run commercials that sign off only with their visual
logo -- the 'swoosh' -- like a tick mark or check mark, as the Americans say. The word Nike
is unspoken and does not appear. This use of semiotics is immensely powerful when it
works, because it forces the viewer to say the brand name.
Rhymes – with brand name
One of the best techniques for bringing in the brand name is to make the strapline rhyme
with it. Here are some lines we've selected from the ADSlogans Unlimited database.
See how well it works if the brand name is the rhyming word:
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City Link
Granada
Haig Scotch
Kia-Ora
Natwest Bank
Nicotinell
Quavers
Radio Rentals
Teletext
Thomas Cook
City Linking, smart thinking.
Ads work harder in the new Granada.
Don't be vague. Ask for Haig.
We all adore a Kia-Ora.
To save and invest, talk to Natwest.
It needn't be hell with Nicotinell.
The flavour of a Quaver is never known to waver.
Stay contented, get Radio Rented.
Don't get vexed. Ask Teletext.
Don't just book it, Thomas Cook it.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
8
2. A slogan should recall the brand name…continued
Rhymes – brand name mention
A fall-back position is to use a rhyme and mention the brand name without it actually
rhyming. Not so effective, perhaps?
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Mars
Viakal
Andrews Antacid
Milk
Oraldene
Flanders, Belgium
A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play.
It's the Viakal fizz that does the bizz! (1992)
It's the Andrews fizz that does the bizz. (1996)
Milk's gotta lotta bottle.
Soothe it away the Oraldene way.
Savour the flavour of Belgium.
Note how the competitive edge is lost when the brand name is not the rhyme. It could
easily be 'An apple a day helps you work, rest and play,' or 'Savour the flavour of a
Quaver'. But the idea of 'To save and invest, talk to Alliance and Leicester' does not
threaten NatWest. A&L in fact uses: 'You get a smarter investor at the Alliance & Leicester,'
which in turn wouldn't work as: 'You get a smarter investor at Barclays.'
3. A slogan should include a key benefit
'Engineered like no other car in the world' does this beautifully for Mercedes Benz. 'Britain's
second largest international scheduled airline' is a 'so what?' statement for the late Air
Europe. You might well say "I want a car that is engineered like no other car in the world."
But it is unlikely you would say "I want two tickets to Paris on Britain's second largest
international scheduled airline!"
In America they say 'sell the sizzle, not the steak.' In Britain they say 'sell the sizzle, not the
sausage.' Either way, it means sell the benefits not the features.
Since the tagline is the leave-behind, the takeaway, surely the opportunity to implant a key
benefit should not be missed? Here are some...
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Hat Council
Polaroid
Swan Light
If you want to get ahead, get a hat.
The fun develops instantly.
Won't make a pom tiddly.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
9
2. A slogan should include a key benefit…continued
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Weight Watchers
Adjustamatic Beds
Holiday Inn
Philips
Radio Times
The Economist
Taste. Not waist.
For the rest of your life.
Pleasing people the world over.
The best way to get music out of your system.
If it's on, it's in.
Free enterprise with every issue.
Look at these lines which have no apparent benefits:
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AT&T
Equity & Law
RAM Enterprises
Exxon
Lite Tuff
Sapolio Soap
Showerlux
MFI
It's all part of the I Plan from AT&T.
Equity & Law. Need we say more.
RAM is a woman-owned small disadvantaged business.
We're Exxon.
That's Lite Tuff!
Use Sapolio.
No wonder we're ahead.
Take a look at us now.
The problem with the AT&T line was that at no point did they articulate what the 'I Plan'
was. They might just as well have said 'It's all part of fxzlldcrk from AT&T.'
4. A slogan should differentiate the brand
'Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach' does this brilliantly. When the line
needed refreshing, it was extended in later executions to show seemingly impossible
situations, such as a deserted motorway in the rush hour, with the line 'Only Heineken can
do this', and lately showing unlikely but admirable situations, such as a group of sanitation
engineers trying to keep the noise down to the comment: 'How refreshing! How Heineken!'
The distinction here is that the line should depict a characteristic about the brand that sets it
apart from its competitors. In the above examples, we see Swan Light, an Australian low-
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
10
4. A slogan should differentiate the brand...continued
alcohol beer. 'Won't make a pom tiddly' is brilliant. It plays on the expression 'tiddly pom',
the sort of noise a stiff-upper-lip Brit would say in the colonies when reviewing the troops as
they march past, and, of course, a Brit to an Oz is a pom. And what could be worse than a
tiddly (tipsy) pom? This line gets my vote as one of the all-time greats. And it runs on
double-decker bus 'super sides'.
Here is a selection of lines that deliver differentiation:
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British Rail
Cheese Council
Pilkington K Glass
Mail on Sunday
Timex watch
Metropolitan Home
Natrena
Safeway
Tesco
Ariel Ultra
Let the train take the strain.
Anyway you please it, cheese it.
Amazingly pays in your glazing.
A newspaper, not a snoozepaper.
Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
Mode for your abode.
Why have low calories when you can have no calories.
Everything you want from a store, and a little bit more.
The price is dropping on your weekly shopping.
Not just nearly clean, but really clean.
5. A slogan should impart positive feelings for the brand
Some lines are more positive than others. 'Once driven, forever smitten', for example, or
'Aah, Bisto!'. Contrast this with Triumph's line for its TR7 sports car in 1976: 'It doesn't look
like you can afford it', or America's Newport cigarettes: 'After all, if smoking isn't a pleasure,
why bother?' "Because I'm hooked, you bastard!" might well be the answer from those who
are addicted to the weed, a sentiment the cigarette company may not appreciate as part of
its message.
Publishers will tell you that negative book titles don't sell. It is my belief that negative
advertising is hard to justify.
Notice how boring all the negative electioneering is in general elections. The voters just
want to turn off.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
11
5. A slogan should impart positive feelings for the brand...continued
Here is a group of positive lines, to make you feel better:
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Capital FM
Delta Airlines
Egg Marketing Board
Horlicks
Solpadeine
Feel 95 point great.
You'll love the way we fly.
Fast food and good for you.
The key to a nice, relaxed evening.
Makes you feel human again.
6. A slogan should reflect the brand’s personality
How can a brand have a personality? Our dictionary says personality means 'habitual
patterns and qualities of behaviour of any individual as expressed by physical and mental
activities and attitudes; distinctive individual qualities of a person considered collectively.'
So think of the brand as a person. Then consider whether the line works for that person.
Here is a group of lines that suit , contrasted with lines that wouldn't:
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Guinness
Guinness
Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
McDonald's
McDonald's
Good things come to those who wait. YES!
The quicker picker-upper. NO!
Think small. YES!
As good as it looks. NO!
Did somebody say McDonald's? YES!
A sandwich served with an east coast
style and a midwest smile! NO!
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American Express
card
• American Express
card
Don't leave home without it. YES!
Money talks. NO!
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
12
7. A slogan should be strategic
Some companies can effectively convey their business strategy in their lines:
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BICC Group
BT
Dupont
Glaxo/Wellcome
Hyundai
Union Carbide
Engineering tomorrow's world.
It's good to talk.
Better things for better living, through chemistry.
Disease has no greater enemy.
From chips to ships.
The discovery company.
8. A slogan should be campaignable
This means that the line should work across a series of advertising executions. It should
have some shelf-life. Then you could have a dozen different ads or commercials, each with
its own unique story, with a single common tagline that supports them all, like these:
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American Express Card
Do you know me?
(Endorsements by famous names who are not readily recognizable.)
• Blackglama Minks
What becomes a legend most?
(Big stars flaunt their mink coats [not any more, they don't].)
• Dewar's Scotch Whisky
They're doers.
(Profiles of interesting people who just happen to drink Dewar's Scotch.)
• Hamlet Cigars
Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet.
(Pot-pourri of aggravations for which the tranquilizer is lighting up a Hamlet.)
• Heineken Beer
How refreshing! How Heineken!
(Variety of unbelievable situations [wouldn't it be nice if...].)
• One2One (cellular phone)
Who would you like to have a One2One with?
(Celebrities fantasize about chatting with their own heroes.)
• Sainsbury's (supermarket)
Everyone's favourite ingredient.
(Recipes from various celebrities calling for Sainsbury's ingredients.)
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
13
9. A slogan should not be usable by a competitor
In other words, you should not be able to substitute a competitive brand name and use the
line. For example, 'My goodness, my Murphy's!' just would not work, but 'A company called
TRW' could be a company called anything. Let's look at these characteristics in more detail,
illustrating the points with more examples.
So many slogans have absolutely no competitive differentiation. You could add any brand
name to the line and it would make sense. And this often is proven by how many users of a
line there are.
One of the most overused lines in the ADSlogans Unlimited database is 'simply the best'
and its variations:
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American Legend
Amiga
Aspen
Binatone
Bishop's Nissan
Duet
Edinburgh
Woolen Mills
HME Firetrucks
Jaystone & Associates
Kuoni
Lee Lohman
MGM Auto Group
Northeast Sailplane
Radio Cambridgeshire
Sanderson Farms
Sunshine Flights
True Digital
Woolacombe Bay Hotel
Simply the Best.
Simply the Best.
Simply the Best.
Simply the Best.
Simply the Best.
Simply the Best.
Simply the Best.
Simply ... the best.
Simply the Best.
Simply, the Best.
Simply the Best.
Simply the Best.
Simply the best.
Simply the best.
Simply the best.
Simply the best.
Simply the best.
Simply the best.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
14
10. A slogan should be original
In advertising, originality is king. A new way of sending a message can set a brand apart
from copycats and also-rans:
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Heinz
Knirps
Mail on Sunday
New York State
Thomson Holidays
Beanz Meanz Heinz.
You can break a brolly but you can't k-nacker a Knirps.
A newspaper, not a snoozepaper.
I q New York.
If Thomson don't do it, don't do it. But if they do, do.
Take beer. You can bet the brief calls for the brand to be seen as refreshing. So what do
we get? Here:
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Bud Ice
Budweiser
Extreme refreshment.
Refreshingly different.
Calders Cream Ale
Hamm's
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Creamy, smooth, refreshing.
Hamm's the beer refreshing.
For keener refreshment..
Refresh! Rejoice! Remember! Pabst gets the call.
And then one day, came:
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Heineken
Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach.
...followed, after many years, by...
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Heineken
How refreshing. How Heineken.
11. A slogan should be simple
Remember, the endline is what you want the punter to 'get'. So KISS (keep it simple,
stupid!): Not like these:
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City of Dresden
An economic epi-centre where
high tech meets baroque.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
15
11. A slogan should be simple..continued
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Hotel Ana, Singapore
Highly strung grand pianos, relaxed guests.
Not the other way round.
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Fireman's Fund
Insurance
Inventor and scientist make dreams come true; the
insurance man keeps nightmares from happening.
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Iberia Airlines
The best connections in the world mean nothing
if an airline forgets the human one.
But like these:
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Blackpool
Larkspur
Landing Hotel
Lloyd's Life
Insurance
British Airways
Concorde
More than just a front.
Home suite hotel.
Cash if you die, cash if you don't.
You leave. Arrive before.
12. A slogan should be neat.
We're using the word neat in the teenage sense. A neat line helps move the brand up a
point in the punter's perception.
Here are some lines that are neat-o!
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Apple Computer
The Economist
Heinz
Kellogg's
Mazda
Thomas Cook
Zenith Data Systems
Think different.
For top laps.
Beanz meanz Heinz.
Help yourself.
Get in. Be moved.
Don't just book it, Thomas Cook it.
The best way of expressing your intelligence.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
16
13. A slogan should be believable
Poetic licence is allowed. Even exaggeration:
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Fix-All Liquid Cement
Heineken
Whitman's Sampler
A million and one uses.
Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach.
A woman never forgets the man who remembers.
But you can go over the top...
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Cadbury's
Haagan-Dazs
KFPM (radio station)
Old Gold cigarettes
Nobody knows Easter better than Cadbury's.
It's better than anything.
The World's Biggest Little Station.
Not a cough in a carload.
14. The line should help when you’re ordering the product or service, or at least
aspiring to it.
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Here are some that help:
"I want to have 'the ultimate driving machine'." (BMW)
"Give me 'taste. Not waist'." (Weight Watchers Meals)
"'Why fool around with anyone else?'" (FedEx)
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Here are some that don't:
"I want a beer that's 'good, but not that good.'" (Tennents)
"I want two tickets to Brussels on 'Britain's second largest international scheduled
airline'!" (Air Europe -- now out of business)
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
17
15. The line should not be in current use by others.
The more different users of a slogan, the less effective it is. ADSlogans Unlimited offers its
LineCheck service so you can make sure your line isn't in use by others.
Whose are these lines?.....
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Who?
Who?
Who?
Who?
Who?
Who?
Who?
Our people make the difference.
Engineering the future.
Taste the difference.
Nobody sells for less!
Where quality costs less.
We care.
The cutting edge.
16. The line should not be bland, generic or hackneyed
Slogans that are bland, redolent of Mom and apple-pie, clearly suffer a weakness. Almost
any brand could use these lines:
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Ames Rubber
Currie Motors
CWS Ltd
Henredon furniture
Itel computers
Omega
Royal Bank
of Scotland
• Singer
• Unisys
• Carling Black Label
Excellence through total quality.
Nice people to do business with.
People who care.
For those who value excellence.
Whatever it takes, wherever it is.
The sign of excellence.
Where people matter.
We make it better.
We make it happen.
Your best bet yet.
And then there are the generic lines... Imagine an organization that provides slogans. They
might sell slogans off the shelf -- like these:
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16. The line should not be bland, generic or hackneyed...continued
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Tomorrow's answers... today!
Our customers come first.
Satisfaction guaranteed.
You can be sure with us.
World class.
The best there is.
We do it carefully.
Is that what you want?
Hackneyed means 'made trite and commonplace by overuse'.
A hackneyed line is dull and monotonous. Like these:
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Put your money where your mouse is. -- for any internet bank.
The wings of [country] -- for any national airline.
The spirit of [location] -- for any national liquor.
[Country's] largest [industry] -- for any big company.
Don't just [verb 1], when you can [verb 2] -- verb 2 is usually a bastardization
of the advertiser's name.
Don't say [commodity], say [brand] -- widely used in many areas.
17. A slogan should not prompt a sarcastic or negative response
These do:
Delta Airlines. We get you there.
("I should certainly hope so. Do I get my money back if we crash?")
Mobil. We want you to live.
("And the Flibberty's Fine Funerals line must be 'We want you to die'!")
FileMaker software. What's your problem?
("It don't work!")
Eastern Airlines. We have to earn our wings every day.
("I've heard of short-term financing, but this is ridiculous!")
Is that a Playtex under there?
("Sexist pig!")
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
19
18. A slogan should not be pretentious
This is the pomposity test.
Try reading the line with the utmost gravity, like an American narrator in a 50's corporate
film, giving it the true spin of importance.
Does it sound a bit pretentious?
These do:
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Kyocera. Doing what others dare not.
Churchill. Surprisingly passionate about insurance.
The Hair Clinic. Where excellence is an everyday word.
Ariel Ultra. Digests the fatty food stains ordinary compacts leave behind at 40°.
Olivetti. Our force is your energy.
19. A slogan should not be negative
Here is a group of lines that don't profess good tidings:
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Northern Ash
Meat & Livestock
Comm
Bacardi Spice
Lea & Perrins
Hungry Joes
Tennents Pilsner
Triumph TR 7
Lung cancer doesn't come in extra mild.
Slam in the lamb.
Distilled in hell.
Steak sauce only a cow could hate.
Bad news for baked potatoes.
It's good, but not that good.
It doesn't look like you can afford it.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
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20. A slogan should not reek of corporate waffle, hence sounding unreal
These do:
Powergen
Neptco
BF Goodrich Aerospace
United Research
Ames Rubber
Almost Any Bank
We do everything in our power to put you first.
Committed to innovation, quality and service.
Creating value through excellence in innovation, quality
and people.
Accelerating strategic change.
Excellence through total quality.
Where people make the difference.
21. A slogan should not be a “So what?” or “Ho-hum!” statement
These are:
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Cadillac
("So what?")
Izod Lacoste
("So what?")
Staffordshire Building Society.
("So what?")
It outsteps its own great traditions!
We are what others pretend to be.
A real building society -- mutual since 1902.
Neither should it make you say “Ho hum...” and turn the page, like these do:
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Currie Motors
("Ho hum...")
Tetrad (loose covers)
("Ho hum...")
Nice people to do business with.
Visit your Tetrad stockist and discover the Tetrad lifestyle.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
21
22. A slogan should not make you say “Oh yeah??”
These do:
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British Telecom
(“Oh yeah??”)
Kmart
(“Oh yeah??”)
British Rail
(“Oh yeah??”)
Tellabs
(“Oh yeah??”)
It's you we answer to.
Changing for the better.
We're getting there.
Leadership in providing innovative solutions to the
telecommunications industry worldwide.
23. A slogan should not be meaningless
These are... What on earth are they trying to say?
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Bassett's Licorice
Allsorts
Environment Agency
Exxon
Foster's
Lite Tuff
Pork Farms
One too many and you might turn Bertie.
Use a bin. It beats getting your bird nicked by a logo.
We're Exxon.
Tickle it you wrigglers!
That's Lite Tuff!
The huntiest choppers in the clundy.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
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24. A slogan should not be complicated or clumsy
These are a little complex…
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Caltex
Madasafish
Bally Ribbon Mills
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Rico Windows
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Tyco International
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Requisite
Technologies
At the heart of your engine. And the community.
Freedom for the net generation.
Manufacturers and distributors of quality narrow
woven-edged fabrics since 1923.
Your local family-run business in its 14th
year trading under the same name.
Telecommunication and electronics. Healthcare and
specialty products. Fire and security. Flow control.
E-content solutions that power B2B e-commerce.
25. You should like it
What’s the point of using a slogan you don’t like? If you really don’t like it, Sloganalysis®
our free online slogan analyzer should help you find out why. See our website for details.
26. Slogan trends
There area two trends in slogans these days. One is the single-word line, such as
exemplified here:
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Budweiser
Hankook Tyres
IBM
Irn-Bru
Rover
United Airlines
True.
Driven.
Think.
Different.
Relax.
Rising.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
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26. Slogan trends...continued
It could be trendy – all in three words (or three terse ideas)
It is hard to deliver a complex message in a single word, so that brings us to the other trend
– the triple threat…
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Air France
British Gas
ICI
Jaguar
Marks & Spencer
New. Fast. Efficient.
Energy. Efficiency. Advice.
World problems. World solutions. World class.
Grace... Space... Pace...
Quality. Value. Service.
This is not the end. Consider it a “pause”.
The Art and Science of the Advertising Slogan
ADSlogans Unlimited
© Timothy R. V. Foster 2001
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